Amy Schneider’s latest “Jeopardy!” endeavor has come to a triumphant end this week.
After making it to the semifinals of the second “Jeopardy! Masters” tournament, which sees six of the highest-ranking “Jeopardy!” contestants face off in a nine-episode competition, the Oakland quiz show star finished in fourth place on Monday, May 20, behind last year’s “Jeopardy! Masters” winner James Holzhauer, 2024 “Tournament of Champions” winner Yogesh Raut and 2024 “Invitational Tournament” winner Victoria Groce.
The finals, which aired Wednesday, May 22, saw Groce take the winning title and Trebek Trophy, with a whopping 55,400 points.
Despite not making it to the finals, Schneider’s efforts did not go unrewarded — she walked away with a cash prize of $100,000.
“This past tournament, one of my main mantras was, ‘Don’t play afraid.’… If I lose, I lose. But don’t lose because I took myself out of the game in advance,” she told the Chronicle, adding that her return to the competition boosted her confidence and helped her learn to trust her instincts.
Schneider gained popularity during her 40-game victory streak, which ended in January 2022. The feat makes her the second-longest-lasting player in the game show’s 58-year run. She also made history as its first openly transgender player to qualify for the “Tournament of Champions.”
In the first of the last two semifinal games on Monday, Schneider ended the first “Jeopardy!” round with zero points, while Groce led with 5,600 and Holzhauer followed closely with 5,200. Though she was able to earn some points by the end of the game, she finished at 1,200 while leading player Holzhauer won the round with 20,278 points.
Schneider regained her footing during the second semifinal game but still trailed behind her opponents. Holzhauer eventually won the round with 49,601 points, and Schneider finished with a final score of 16,200.
Schneider has continued to appear on a number of spinoff competitions since her debut on the show, including the 2022 “Tournament of Champions,” which she won. Earlier this year, she was the runner-up at the “Invitational Tournament” and placed fifth at the inaugural “Jeopardy! Masters” tournament in 2023. That same year, she released her memoir, “In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life,” which includes reflections on her time competing on the show.
At the end of Monday’s episode, host Ken Jennings referred to Schneider as “one of the all-time ‘Jeopardy!’ greats.”
But the title certainly didn’t come without its difficulties. Schneider said that one of her biggest challenges during this tournament was rewiring her brain to approach the game differently.
“I had developed a certain style of playing in my original run that was effective at that level and in that context, but didn’t really work when it came to the highest level like ‘Jeopardy! Masters’ type of competition,” she explained.
More specifically, Schneider had to become more conscious about trying to find the Daily Doubles and learn to wager more aggressively. She said that starting to trust herself to buzz in even when she wasn’t completely certain she had the answer was the most difficult adjustment.
“I hate to get an answer wrong, and not just because of, like, losing the points, but just because, you know, I feel like, ‘Oh no, I look dumb’ or whatever, and that was really kind of holding me back,” she said. “I had to really trust myself.”
Though her time in the tournament has come to an end, this likely won’t be the last time fans will catch Schneider on “Jeopardy!”
“If I’m going to do it, I know that I really need to put a lot of work in to kind of set myself up for that next level,” she said, noting that she would review her past competitions and study new topics.
Until then, she said she plans to keep writing, become more politically active and, as always, continue to expand her knowledge.
